Exploring a suitable animal model for chronic arsenic toxicity and carcinogenicity studies

Inorganic arsenic is classified as a human carcinogen based on very strong epidemiological evidence. Surprisingly, there are only few studies available for its carcinogenic effects in animals despite there are many studies for its non-cancer acute and subchronic toxicity in the literature. To date, the urinary arsenic (total or speciation concentrations) is still regarded as the most reliable biomarker for arsenic exposure. In searching for a suitable animal model for arsenic adverse effect studies, we and others have evaluated urinary porphyrins and oxidative indicators for their potential as biomarkers for chronic arsenic exposure. For the carcinogenic effects, there are only few successful studies including research done in our laboratory. In this report, we explore what might be a promising model to employ for further develop our understanding of arsenic chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity